Washington, DC
December 12, 2019
WHEN GEENA DAVIS WAS NOMINATED FOR BEST ACTRESS in 1991 for her role as Thelma in the ground-breaking female-buddies road film “Thelma & Louise,” she was sure it would mark a turning point for women in Hollywood.
"All the headlines were, ‘This is going to change everything.’ There are going to be so many more movies with female stars about women’s issues, and I’m like, ‘Hot dog, can’t wait. Go ahead.’ And then, nothing,” recalled Davis, in conversation with Meredith Levien, Chief Operating Officer of The New York Times Company, at Merrill’s #WomenInvested speaker event in December 2019.
The slow rate of progress in gender equality that followed, on and off screen, inspired Davis to found the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media in 2004. Its mission: reducing harmful stereotypes and advocating for more gender-balanced on-screen portrayals. Last year she was awarded an honorary Oscar for her work fighting gender bias in films and TV.
“Anything that you show on screen will have an impact in real life,” explained the actor and activist, pointing to the Institute’s motto: If she can see it, she can be it. “We don't have enough real-life role models for people to say, ‘Wow, I see a lot of examples of women being leaders or CEO's or whatever.’ We must have them in fiction if we want to create change.”
In their wide-ranging conversation, Davis and Levien talked about pay equity, ageism, entrepreneurship and where the equality movement might go from here, among many other topics. Reflecting on progress in her industry, the Academy-Award winner (Davis won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role in 1988’s “The Accidental Tourist”) was happy to report that—30 years after “Thelma and Louise”—films starring women are more profitable than those starring men.1 Watch the videos below for highlights.
“I feel like this could be a big tipping point,” actor and activist Geena Davis said, noting the progress made by Times Up, Me Too and other movements helping to create greater equality for women. “It will definitely be ranked among the times when we’ve made big advancements.” But there’s more to be done to establish equality for all.
1 https://www.fastcompany.com/90279703/study-female-led-movies-make-more-money-at-the-box-office as of Oct. 1, 2019
Meredith Levien and Geena Davis are not affiliated with Bank of America Corporation.
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